ADHD, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a behavioral condition that makes focusing on everyday requests and routines challenging. People with ADHD typically have trouble getting organized, staying focused, making realistic plans and thinking before acting. They may be fidgety, noisy and unable to adapt to changing situations. Children with ADHD can be defiant, socially inept or aggressive. Families considering treatment options should consult a qualified mental health professional for a complete review of their child's behavioral issues and a treatment plan. American Psychiatric Association has identified three subtypes of ADHD: Combined, Predominantly Inattentive Type, and Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type.

Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete, Authoritative Guide for Parents by Russell Barkley

Learning Outside the Lines by Mooney and Cole

Depression is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Depression is the most common mental disorder. Fortunately, depression is treatable. A combination of therapy and antidepressant medication can help ensure recovery.

Growing up Sad: Childhood Depression and Its Treatment by Cytryn and McKnew

Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure. People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat.

What to do when you worry too much: A kids guide to overcoming anxiety (What to do guide for kids) By Dawn Huebner

The Anxiety Workbook for Teens: Activities to help you deal with Anxiety and Worry By, Lisa M. Schab

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. Bullying can take the form of physical contact, words or more subtle actions. The bullied individual typically has trouble defending him or herself and does nothing to “cause” the bullying.

Executive Functions is an umbrella term for the management of cognitive processes that allow one to plan, organize, carryout, and monitor purposeful behavior. Skills associated with adaptive executing functioning continue to develop during the middle school years; the right frontal executive systems of the brain are the last to fully develop and, or some, mature in late adolescence. Executive functioning may be conceptualized as falling into two broad areas – behavioral regulation and metacognitive functioning. Behavioral regulation refers to the ability of an individual to control and direct his behaviors and affect in order to attend, focus, and interact appropriately with the environment. It includes inhibition, shifting, and emotional control. In contrast, the meta-congative aspects of executive functioning are those which involve more mental effort, including initiating behaviors, working memory, planning, organizing, and monitoring one’s own behavior.

Strategies of Organization: Preparing for Homework and the Real World by Michelle Garcia Winner

Autism Spectrum Disordersdescribe a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders. There is considerable overlap among the different forms of autism. The wide variation in symptoms among children with autism, however, has led to the concept of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. ASDs affect one out of every 68 children in the U.S. They occur more often among boys than girls and affect three different areas of a child's life:

Social interaction

Communication - both verbal and non-verbal

Behaviors and interests

Each child with an ASD will have his or her own pattern of autism. Sometimes, a child's development is delayed from birth. Some children seem to develop normally before they suddenly lose social or language skills. Others show normal development until they have enough language to demonstrate unusual thoughts and preoccupations.

Grief and Lossis experienced each year by thousands of teenagers through the death of someone they love. When a parent, sibling, friend or relative dies, teens feel the overwhelming loss of someone who helped shape their fragile self-identities. And these feelings about the death become a part of their lives forever.

Homework Stress can lead to nightly battles between students and caregivers.

1. Have a special homework area: Make sure your son or daughter knows where they “do” their homework. The kitchen table is a great spot. Bedrooms are not ideal since they cannot be supervised and have lots of tempting distractions. This homework spot should be free from distractions and somewhat supervised, in a public area of the home for accountability. Consistency is very important in establishing good routines needed for doing homework. A consistent location environment can be very helpful. Complete the most difficult homework first and save the easier homework for the end of the homework time when motivation is fading. Every student at Galvin Middle School is required to use an agenda book. Families should check it nightly for consistency.

2. Set up a special homework time: Similar to location, having a consistent homework or study time can be essential in establishing a homework routine. In addition, it is beneficial to have this homework time set aside earlier than later. Getting homework out of the way before 7pm is beneficial and gives kids time to relax afterwards. Relaxing first and then attempting homework later is often unsuccessful due to sleepiness, tv and game temptation, and loss of motivation. Work a certain amount of time and then stop working on homework. Do not force your child to spend an excessive and inappropriate amount of time on homework. If you feel your child worked enough for one night, let the teacher know (e.g., write a note to the teacher or send an email). Use a timer to challenge your child to stay on task, and reward work completed with relative accuracy during that time frame. Tell your child that you will come back to check his or her progress on homework when the timer rings.

3. Cell phones, TV, video games, and other devices: The biggest challenge kids face when it comes to completing homework is temptation. It is imperative that kids do not have access to these temptations while studying or completing homework. In addition, removing these devices completely during homework time and nightly at a consistent bed time has proven to be extremely successful in helping kids establish successful and healthy routines.

4. Sleep: Kids are often exhausted after spending a long day at school exercising their brains. In the afternoon, many kids take naps. This should be strongly discouraged. Sleep habits and the above mentioned devices, all play a huge role in homework completion. Many students stay up late at night using video games, the internet, or watching television. Consequently, they are exhausted after school the next day and are tempted to take a nap. However this fuels this unsuccessful cycle making homework difficult or impossible to complete because it is started late at night when the device temptation is strong.

5. Set an incentive: Make sure you work with your kids teachers in regards to what homework is assigned nightly. Also communicate regularly to stay on top of homework completion progress. Adding an incentive at home can be a motivator for many students. Something as small as a favorite dinner, treat, or family activity can often be enough to motivate kids to stay on track when tempted to throw in the towel.

Eating Disorders While many people are concerned about what they eat and their body image, eating disorders are marked by extremes. They are present when a person experiences severe disturbances in their eating behavior, such as extreme reduction of food intake or extreme overeating, or feelings of extreme distress or concern about body weight or shape.